AURORA — Oregon introduced Aurora Christian to rugged Big Northern football at its finest on its opening drive.

“It was clicking. We did everything right,” running back Nick Newman said.

Seventeen consecutive runs, including two fourth-down conversions, led to Tyler Blume’s 3-yard TD pass to Pierce Dhaese on yet another fourth down.

“We did whatever we wanted on that first drive,” Blume said. “It was all good until we got on defense and they started throwing it around.”

Oregon wanted to play keep-away, but no matter how long you keep the ball, you eventually have to give it back. And once they did, the two-time defending Class 3A state champs overwhelmed Oregon 49-14.

Aurora Christian scored touchdowns on its first seven possessions, including when the Eagles were on their own 36 with 13 seconds left in the first half after an Oregon punt. Austin Bray (9-for-12 for 268 yards) threw a pass 55 yards in the air for a 44-yard score to Brandon Walgren (173 yards on six catches) on the final play of the half for a 35-7 lead.

“If the game was played between the hash marks, we’d be in pretty good shape against them, but it’s not,” Blume said. “Their offense is so sophisticated. It’s a lot different than the Big Northern.”

But on a day when three Big Northern West rivals (Winnebago, Stillman Valley and Lutheran) moved on, at least Oregon (6-5) showed it could play tough, hard-nosed football, too, even if it couldn’t handle the Eagles space-age passing attack.

Oregon ran for 206 yards on 47 carries, including touchdowns by Adam Bettner and Sawyer Reynolds, but that opening drive was the Hawks’ calling card for the night.

“That was absolutely ideal,” coach John Bothe said. “We took almost the whole quarter and we were true to ourselves. You knew the kids believed in the plan. It was going to be tough, and eventually we were going to go down, but they believed in the plan.”

And they brought Oregon back from a 2-7 season last year.

“Our program was on the brink last year,” Both said. “We were down on the mat. If we didn’t respond this year, who knows where we’d be? These kids responded and brought us back to life. Where we go from here, I don’t know, but this group definitely bounced us back.”